Regional Chemical meet concludes

As the tenth Regional Chemical meet topped 60 delegates from 32 countries, Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of the Netherland based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced that he was highly taken up on the event.

"It was a fruitful visit with our tenth Regional Meeting starting off successfully in Colombo. I am also highly impressed with Minister Bathiudeen's arrangements for our 60 international delegates from 32 countries" Ahmet Üzümcü revealed on 26 June.

Üzümcü successfully concluded his two day visit to Sri Lanka on the same night.

Ahmet Üzümcü said this while attending the special banquet hosted by Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce to felicitate Üzümcü and the 60 international invitees from 35 countries.

The 60 delegates specially arrived here to take part in the tenth Regional Meeting of the National Authorities of States Parties of Asia and also to meet Üzümcü.

Along with Minister Bathiudeen, top officials of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and Department of Commerce, and Louis Piët (Ambassador of Netherlands to Sri Lanka), Barkin Kayaoglu (Deputy Chief of Cabinet-Office of the DG-OPCW), Karunatilaka Amunugama (Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs), Dr Neville Gunawardena (Director General of Customs), A H M Fowzie (Senior Minister of Urban Affairs), Athauda Seneviratne (Senior Minister of Rural Affairs), and Buddhi Athauda (Sri Lanka's Ambassador in Netherlands and Lanka's Permanent Representative to the OPCW) were also in attendance.

"I am also impressed with the levels of coordination, level of hospitality and commitment of the Government of Sri Lanka towards the OPCW and Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons" Üzümcü.